The snow did not go away for some days. While it lasted, Frank and Tom
watched the birds very closely. They learned many new and curious things
about them.
The sparrows and robins had grown so tame that they would fly right up
to the window-sill, and eat the crumbs and seeds that were placed there
for them; while the tomtits paid great attention to the little net bag
that hung quite close to the window. So long as they stood back a short
distance from the window, the two boys could watch the funny tricks of
these hungry little visitors.
Amongst other things, they learned to tell a seed-eating bird from one
that feeds on insects.
[Illustration: Tomtits.]
Seed-eating birds, as their uncle told them, have short, stout, hard
bills, just the thing for shelling seeds. The insect-eaters have longer
and more slender bills; while birds that live upon both seeds and
insects have bills hard enough to shell seeds and yet long and sharp
enough to pick insects out of their hiding-places.
So many birds came to the feast, that Uncle George cleared the snow from
another part of the lawn and spread some dry ashes upon it. Upon one
patch he scattered seeds and crumbs, and on the other he placed a large
flat dish.
In this dish were put all sorts of waste scraps from the kitchen, such
as bones, potatoes, and pieces of meat. Uncle George did this so that
the boys could tell flesh-eating birds from those that lived upon seeds.
[Illustration: Starling.]
The starlings came to the dish first, and fought among themselves for
the food, although there was much more than enough for them all.
Then came a few rooks, who walked about the dish in quite a lordly way.
Every now and again one of them would seize a huge crust of bread or a
potato in his clumsy bill and fly with it a short distance away. The
starlings, thrushes, and blackbirds hopped nimbly about, picking up a
choice morsel here and there.
The new patch was often crowded with finches of all kinds. The boys
noticed that many of the birds fed at both places. Among these were
sparrows, robins, chaffinches, thrushes, and starlings. These birds,
their uncle explained to them, fed on a mixed food of insects, seeds,
and fruits.
It amused them very much to watch how the rooks and jackdaws always
dragged the food away from the dish, as if they were stealing it; while
now and then a blackbird would fly away with a loud chatter, as if he
had been suddenly found out whilst doing something very wrong.
“These birds,” said Uncle George, “are looked upon as enemies by farmers
and gardeners. They are scared out of our fields and gardens by every
possible means. That is what makes them steal even the food that is
given to them.”
[Illustration: Rook.]
“But they pick the newly-sown seeds out of the ground, and steal the
fruit when it is ripe,” said Frank. “That is what the gardener says.”
“If the gardener only knew how much they help him, by eating up the
grubs and beetles that damage his plants, he would not grudge them a few
seeds and berries, Frank,” Uncle George replied. “The rook is one of the
farmer’s best friends; and if it were not for thrushes, starlings,
blackbirds, and such insect-eating birds, our gardens would be overrun
with insects. If these insects were allowed to increase, we should not
be able to grow anything. Even the sparrow is the gardener’s friend. He
eats the caterpillars that would spoil our fruit trees and bushes.”
Exercises on Lesson II.
1. Why do we put out suet and scraps of meat for certain birds in
winter?
2. How can you tell a flesh-eating from an insect-eating bird?
3. Write down the names of all the birds which belong to the crow
family.
4. What makes the jackdaw steal all his food?
5. Why are jackdaws, rooks, sparrows, starlings, and blackbirds said
to be “the farmer’s friends”?